Turning trash into treasure is a good idea. The problem is that it's hard to do. But a group of students recently succeeded.
变废为宝是个好主意,可问题是不易操作。而就在近日,一支学生小组却成功了。
They recycled oyster shells in a remote coastal village into a million-yuan business and won an international organization's top award.
他们从一个偏远的沿海村庄回收海蛎壳,然后将其变成一项百万元的生意,并获得了由国际团体颁发的最高奖项。
In the summer of 2010, Han Cong, a senior majoring in marine chemistry and economics at Xiamen University, went to Dawu village in Fujian province. Smelly oyster shells piled up alongside the roads bothered him.
2010年夏天,正在厦门大学攻读海洋化学和经济学双学位的大四学生韩聪(音译)去了趟福建省的大梧村。路边堆积的海蛎壳气味难闻,令韩聪烦恼不已。
"They smelled really bad and millions of flies were buzzing around, which was a hazard," said Han.
他说:"海蛎壳特别臭,还有无数苍蝇飞来飞去,危害环境和健康。"
The 22-year-old wanted to do something about it. He did some research and found out that millions of tons of oyster shells are disposed of unprocessed in the coastal regions of the country.
当时22岁的韩聪想到自己必须做些什么。通过调查,他发现有数百万吨未经加工处理的海蛎壳堆积在国内沿海地区。
In many villages, they presented a major health issue.
在很多村子里,这些海蛎壳都引起了严重的健康问题。
Han read an article about how oyster shells are made into fertilizer and construction materials in Japan and Taiwan.
韩聪曾读到一篇关于台湾、日本如何将海蛎壳转化为肥料和建筑材料的文章。
Han encouraged fellow students to contact several Taiwan factories.
他鼓励一些同学去联系几家台湾工厂。
Han suspected that it could be a "trash to treasure fairytale".
韩聪觉得这可能会成为一个"变废为宝的神话"。
His instinct was right.
他的直觉是正确的。
The replies from companies were positive and an oyster shell processing factory has been operating for more than a year.
那些公司给予了肯定的答复,其中一家海蛎壳加工厂已运营一年多时间。
Fertilizer from shells is sold to northeastern China to improve the soil quality.
由贝壳做成的肥料销往东北地区用来改善土质。
And the average income of villagers has increased steadily as the factory develops.
随着工厂的发展,村民的平均收入也得到逐步提高。
Their idea was praised by Amy Wang, one of the judges from Johnson & Johnson China Ltd in the 2012 SIFE China National Competition held in Beijing last week.
在上周举行的"2012年赛扶世界杯中国站创新公益大赛全国赛"中,来自强生(中国)有限公司的评委Amy Wang对这个想法赞扬有加。
"Those students utilized limited resources in a sustainable business model," she said. Their creative idea has achieved long-term philanthropic goals. Their scheme is uniquely different from many other philanthropic projects featuring only donations," said Wang。
"这些学生通过可持续发展的商业模式来利用有限的资源," 她说:"他们的创意已经实现了长期的慈善目标。与那些以捐赠为单一形式的慈善项目相比,他们的方案显得更与众不同。"